COMPARISON OF VENOUS REFLUX IN THE AFFECTED AND NON-AFFECTED LEG IN PATIENTS WITH UNILATERAL VENOUS ULCERATION

In 54 patients with unilateral leg ulceration of purely venous aetiolo gy the only difference in venous reflux between affected and non-affec ted legs was with respect to the popliteal and crural veins. Deep and superficial venous reflux is common in legs without the skin changes t ypical of chronic venous insufficiency, The significance of venous ref lux in an ulcerated leg cannot therefore be determined without referen ce to the contralateral, clinically normal, limb. Surgery should be di rected at correcting reflux present in the ulcerated limb but not in t he unaffected limb. In a minority of patients this entails superficial venous surgery alone, but in the majority such an approach would, ide ally, entail correction of deep venous incompetence.